Refrigerator having a freezer compartment in the door



R. E. KING Filed March 22, 1954 REFRIGERATOR HAVING A FREEZER COMPARTMENT IN THE DOOR Dec. 27, 1955 FIG. I

FIG 4 lllOl lllll'] INVENTOR. RALPH 5. KING ms ATTORNEY FIG.2

United States Patent "O" REFRIGERATOR HAVING A FREEZER COMPARTMENT IN THE DOOR Ralph E. King, Erie, Pa., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application March 22, 1954, Serial No. 417,640

4 Claims. (Cl. 62-102) This invention relates to household refrigerators and, more particularly, to refrigerators having both a fresh food compartment and a freezer compartment.

Household refrigerators of the two compartment type presently have the freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment arranged in vertical spaced relation with each compartment being insulated from the other compartment. Positioning of the fresh food compartment and the freezer compartment in vertically spaced relationship results in one of the compartments having easier access thereto than the other compartment.

This invention contemplates arranging the freezer compartment in the door of the refrigerator. This permits both the freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment to have portions that are equally readily accessible, and other portions that are not as easily accessible so that articles may be stored according to the expected use thereof.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a freezer compartment in the door of a household refrigerator.

An object of the invention is to provide a refrigerator of the two compartment type with an evaporator disposed outside both the fresh food and freezer compartments.

A further object of this invention is to provide a positive air path for cooling the freezer compartment of a two compartment refrigerator.

Further objects and advantages of the'invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In accordance with this invention, a refrigerator is provided having a cabinet having a food storage "cornpartment and a door providing access to the compartment. The door has a compartment therein and a second door is provided within the first door to permit access to the second compartment. Means are provided to circulate air from the food compartment into the second compartment. Cooling means are disposed in the circulating air for cooling the air to maintain the second compartment at sub-freezing temperatures so. that the second compartment will function as a freezer compartment.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a sectional view of a household refrigerator embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the refrigeration system.

Referring to the drawing and particularly Fig. 1, there is shown a refrigerator cabinet 2 having an inner liner 3 and an outer casing 4 with suitable insulation 5 disposed therebetween. The cabinet 2 has a fresh food 2,728,203 Patented Dec. 27, 1955 2. storage compartment 6 and a chamber 7 disposed above the storage compartment 6 with a heat conducting baflle 8 disposed therebetween. The storage compartment 6 is provided with suitable shelves 9 for holding the contents of the fresh food compartment.

A door 10 provides access to the interior of the cabinet 2 including both the fresh food storage compartment 6 and the chamber 7. A suitable gasket 11 is disposed on the cabinet 2 to prevent air leakage therefrom between the door 10 and the cabinet 2. The door 10 includes an outer panel or wall 14 and an inner panel or wall 15 with suitable insulation 16 disposed therebetween. A portion 17 of the door 10 extends inwardly therefrom to provide a second compartment 18 within the door. The portion 17 of the door 10 has a pair of openings 19 and 20 that permit communication between the second compartment 18 and the chamber 7.

Disposed within the chamber 7 is an evaporator 21 that is placed in heat exchange relation with the heat conducting bafile 8 so as to maintain the fresh food compartment 6 in a refrigerated condition. A second evaporator 22 is disposed above the evaporator 21 in the chamber 7 opposite the opening 20 and has ice trays 23, preferably disposed above the evaporator 22, in heat exchange relation therewith. A fan 24 is positioned in the chamber 7 opposite opening 19 to circulate air over the evaporator 21 through the opening 19 into the second compartment 18. The air departs from the second compartment 18 by means of the opening 20 to return to the chamber 7 to pass over evaporator 22 and then again be circulated over the evaporator 21 by fan 24. This circulation of air maintains the second compartment 18 at sub-freezing temperatures so that the compartment 18 will function as a freezer compartment. The positioning of the evaporator 22 opposite the outlet opening, 20 prevents moisture from the ice trays 23 from being carried into the compartment 18 where it would form undesired frost. In order to insure complete circulation of air through the compartment 18, a baffie or partition 25 is provided, as shown in Fig. 2, to divide the second compartment 18 into a first portion 26 and a second portion 27. The end of the baffle remote from the openings 19 and 20 is spaced from the bottom of the second compartment 18 to provide a passage 28 that permits communication between portions 26 and 27.

Suitable shelves 29 are provided in the second compartment 18 to hold the contents that it is desired to store therein. The upper end of the portion 17 of the door 10 cooperates with a gasket 30 that is supported by the battle 8 to prevent the air circulated by the fan 24 from leaking into the fresh food compartment 6. The door 10 is provided with a second door 31 that permits access to the freezer or second compartment 18 without opening the entire door and exposing the fresh food compartment 6 to the ambient air. Thus, the amount of frost forming on the baflle 8 in the fresh food compartment 6 is reduced since the compartment 6 is exposed to the ambient air only when it is desired to remove articles from the compartment 6. The second door 31 is composed of an outer panel or wall 32, an inner panel or Wall 33, and suitable insulation 34 disposed therebetween. A gasket 35 cooperates with the door 31 and the door 10 to prevent air leakage therebetween. The door 10 is provided with shelves 36 on the inner wall 15 that is exposed to the fresh food compartment 6, as shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 4, there is shown the desired refrigeration system for the present invention. The system includes a compressor 37 that pumps high pressure refrigerant to a condenser 38 from which it flows to the evaporator 22 by means of a capillary 39. It will be understood that any other suitable restrictor rather than a capillary could be employed, if desired. After leaving the evaporator 22, the refrigerant passes through a second restrictor 40 to the evaporator 21, the evaporator 21 being the main evaporator for the refrigeration systern. The vaporized refrigerant then flows to a header 41 from which it flows by suction line 42 to the cornpressor where the cycle is repeated. The evaporator 22 operates at a temperature of approximately 10 higher than the main evaporator 21 with the result that frost migrates to the colder evaporator 21 so that there is no problem of the evaporator 22 losing some of its efiiciency due to frosting. The evaporator 21 maintains its ciliciency since the frost thereon melts therefrom during each oli cycle. This frost melts due to the heat conducting baffle S transferring heat from the compartment 6 to the evaporator 21.

While the second compartment 15 has been shown as extending for only a portion of the door in, it will be understood that the compartment 18 could extend for the entire length of the door 10. Similarly, the second door 31 could extend the entire length of the door 18 if the compartment 18 extended that distance. While the refrigeration system shown in Fig. 4 is the preferred system, it will be understood that other suitable systems could be employed if desired.

While the present invention has been described by reference to a particular embodiment thereof, it will be understood that modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without actually departing from theinention. 1, therefore, aim in the appended claims to cover all such variations as come within the true spirit and scope of the foregoing disclosure.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

i. In a refrigerator having a cabinet providing a food storage compartment, a door providing access to said compartment, a chamber formed in said cabinet above said storage compartment, said door having a compartment formed therein, a second door disposed in said first door to provide access to said second compartment, an evaporator disposed in said chamber adjacent said storage compartment to maintain said storage compartment at above freezing temperatures, means providing communication between said second compartment and said chamber, a second evaporator disposed in said chamher, and fan means to circulate air over said second evaporator into said second compartment to maintain said second compartment at sub-freezing temperatures so that said second compartment will function as a freezer compartment.

2. In a refrigerator having a cabinet providing a food storage compartment, a door providing access to said compartment, a chamber formed in said cabinet above said storage compartment, said door having a compartment formed therein, a second door disposed in said first door to provide access to said second compartment, an evaporator disposed in said chamber adjacent said storage compartment to maintain said storage compartment at above freezing temperatures, said second compartrnent having two openings therein to permit commu nication between said second compartment and said chamber, a second ice freezing evaporator disposed in said chamber, and means to circulate air over said first evaporator through one of said openings into said second compartment, and thence through said second compartment and the other of said openings to said chamber where it passes over said second evaporator, said air maintaining said second compartment at sub-freezing temperatures so that said second compartment will function as a freezer compartment.

3. in a refrigerator having a cabinet providing a food storage compartment, a door providing access to said compartment, a chamber formed in said cabinet above said storage compartment, said door having a compartment formed therein, a second door disposed in said first door to provide access to said second compartment, means providing communication between said second compartment and said chamber, fan means to circulate air from said chamber into said second compartment and thence back into said chamber in a closed fluid stream, a first evaporator disposed in said chamber adjacent said storage compartment to maintain said storage compartment at above freezing temperatures and located in said fluid stream to cool the air flowing to said second compartment to maintain it at sub-freezing temperatures, a second evaporator within said chamber located in said stream of air flowing from said second chamber, and an ice forming tray cooled by said second evaporator.

4. In a refrigerator having a cabinet providing a food storage compartment, 2. door providing access to said compartment, a chamber formed in said cabinet above saidstorage compartment, said door having a compartment formed therein, a second door disposed in said.

first door to provide access to said second compartment, an evaporator disposed in said chamber adjacent said storage compartment to maintain said storage compartment at above freezing temperatures, said second compartmenthaving two openings therein to permit communication between said second compartment and said chamber, a second eavporator disposed in said chamber, a baffle disposed in said second compartment to separate said openings and form two separate portions, said baffle having a length less than said compartment length to provide a passage between said two portions at the end of said compartment remote from said openings, and means to circulate air over said first evaporator through one of said openings, one of said portions of said second compartment, said passage, the other of said portions, said other opening to said chamber and said second evaporator to maintain said second compartment at subfreezing temperatures so that said second compartment will function as a freezer compartment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Shoemaker Oct. 26, 1954 

